Jessica Poplawski, Period 6, 3/8/23

 Jessica Poplawski, Period 6, Date TBA

Blog #3

Literature Circle - A Thousand Ships 

Our Greek Mythology unit was extremely uncomfortable for me. My only previous exposure to these stories, these gods, was the heavily romanticized and fictional work that is the Percy Jackson series. Reading the actual stories as told through Edith Hamilton’s “Mythology” opened my eyes to the fact that these myths are not modern and subject to all the biases of their time–including the oppression of women. This was present in the stories so often that my friend and I would joke before class, “I wonder how women are going to be discriminated against today!” Afterward, we would have a blast analyzing the endless plight of women in Greek Myth. One example is the story of Persephone, who is kidnapped and raped by Hades only for him to receive no punishment. The only people that are punished are Persephone, who needs to stay in the Underworld for a few months out of the year, and Demeter, who loses time with her daughter. Another example is the story of Pandora. Pandora is always portrayed as disloyal and uncontrollable, however, it is rarely mentioned that it was Zeus who has burdened her with insatiable curiosity. She should have no blame, yet, she gets all of it. Zeus never faces the consequences of his actions. This tragic state of women is one of the most consistent themes in Greek Myth. Natalie Haynes noticed this suffering and created A Thousand Ships, which retells the Iliad through the perspective of women. Each unique yet tragic narrative creates a complete picture of the Trojan War in a way that does ignore the many stories women have to tell. 

During wartime, we always hear the stories of men. Their struggles with battle, their struggles with governance. The reason why we always hear about men isn’t that they make up the majority of warriors. After all, the Amazons fought in the Trojan War, and I had no clue they were a part of the war until I read A Thousand Ships. I’d only heard the male perspective, and this is because the original stories are a product of their time. In these ancient times, women were not considered as important as men. 

Women’s suffering in wartime is often overlooked, despite the complete variety of ways that they suffer.  In the Trojan War, women were victims. Like Penthesilea, some fought. Some were slaves, like Briseis and Chryseis. Some stayed home alone, waiting patiently every day for the day their husband might come back, like Penelope. Some women lost everyone they held dear, husbands, sons, and daughters alike, like Hecabe. Some grieved so deeply that they killed themselves, like Laodamia. Some, like Clytemnestra, were sacrificed. The diversity in all of these accounts of the Trojan War makes you think critically about suffering. Specifically, what is more difficult, fighting in a war and dying in battle, or finding out the person you love has died in battle and burying them? Women did not suffer less than men in this war, and there is no reason we should not be informed of their stories as well. I believe that this quote from A Thousand Ships sums it up the best: "When a war ended, the men lost their lives. But the women lost everything else."

Unfortunately. Greek Mythology is not the only place where the female perspective is missing. For example, in Norse mythology, we don’t have the stories of many of the goddesses, Odin’s wives and daughters. I’ve been captivated by the many wild and entertaining Norse Myths, however, I can’t help but feel disappointed that the stories of the many goddesses are missing. I’ve given a lot of thought as to why we don’t have these stories. The most likely scenario I can come up with is that when the myths (originally oral tradition) were written down, the people writing the manuscripts didn’t believe that the stories about the women were important enough to waste their precious time and ink on. 

The silencing of women is not just a historical phenomenon; I’ve also seen it go on today. For instance, when women speak out about sexual assault, there are always people who aim to silence them. You get endless comments about how “she was asking for it,” “she should’ve dressed more modestly,” or even more direct character assassination in comments like “she’s crazy.” The silencing is not just in the insults hurled at the victims. It’s also present in the lack of response and respect of law enforcement and the failure of the justice system to put the offenders in their place. 

We, as a society, need to work on uplifting the voices of women and giving them the confidence and weight that we give to male voices. This is the theme that permeates Haynes’ novel. She has been turning the tables around by refreshingly retelling these Greek Myths through A Thousand Ships and her other works like Pandora’s Jar and Stone Blind. Reading A Thousand Ships has forced me to think critically about the world around me and I don’t regret reading it for a second. Out of the many Greek mythology-based novels I’ve read, this is the one that will stick with me the most for its ability to effortlessly make a statement about the modern world while staying true to the Iliad and not differing too much from the original stories.